


Through the Mist

by HaddockWriter



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Comfort, Comfort hug, Dark Magic, Eventual Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hallucinations, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Rayla saves Callum, Rayllum, Rayllum Fluff, Rayllum One-Shot, Temptation, The key of aavaros, Xadia (The Dragon Prince), magical cube, tempted to use dark magic, tricks and visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 15:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30057237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaddockWriter/pseuds/HaddockWriter
Summary: It has been hours now since Callum had passed out laying on the ground like this, losing himself to the forces of dark magic that were consuming his very being due to his careless use of practising dark magic for the first time. It was already nearing night time and Rayla was still there, taking care of Callum alone in the cave. She wanted to do something to help him other than to just stare and watch him suffer. Her wish was granted when a radiant light suddenly burst forth from Callum's magical cube and teleported Rayla to somewhere unknown.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23
Collections: Rayllum One-Shots





	Through the Mist

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fan-made extension plot about how Callum was rescued from his dark magic nightmare. This short story takes place after Callum met with his mother in his dream, telling him to breathe in season 2, episode 9 - Breathe.

It has been hours now since Callum had passed out laying on the ground like this, losing himself to the forces of dark magic that were consuming his very being due to his careless use of practising dark magic for the first time. It was already nearing night time and Rayla was still there, taking care of Callum alone in the cave. She had been watching him suffer for too long and the nightmare seemed to become worse every passing hour. All Rayla could do was just stare and wipe the beads of cold sweat gathering over his forehead. Anguish was written all over his face. He was struggling to find a way out of his nightmare but… it was obvious that it was to no avail.

She couldn’t bear it anymore. She can’t afford to continue seeing Callum like this, gasping for air and slowly drowning in the oppression of dark magic that refuses to let him go, not willing to let him be at peace until he has finally given himself completely to its powers. A tear rolled down Rayla’s face as she watched Callum writhed and rolled with no control of his body. Her heart broke seeing him like this. 

While she was worrying over Callum’s well-being, a bright blue glow suddenly came from the corner of the cave, catching the attention of the young elf. She got up to investigate the source of the glow and realised it was Callum’s magic cube.

“The cube... It’s glowing…” She looked at it with bewilderment. 

“And the symbol is… the sky arcanum!” She gasped, placing a hand over her gaping mouth. 

“Wha- what’s happening?” She turned her body to face Callum and noticed that the glow grew brighter as she did so. 

“The sky arcanum… He’s making a connection! But what’s happening to him?” 

She heard stories about it before, but she wasn’t sure if they were real. Rumours say that when a being not born connected to an arcanum tries to comprehend its knowledge, the knowledge would become too overwhelming and consume the being’s mind; wearing off the being from the inside and destroying its mental faculty, hence the reason why the history of a human making a connection with an arcanum is never heard of. Not many humans have tried it before. And those who did ended up losing themselves to the arcanum. 

“No… this can’t happen to Callum. Not him. I can’t watch him lose himself to the arcanum. I need to help him...“

“Callum! Callum! Can you hear me? Callum!” The young elf shook his body and cried. But there was no response.

“Callum! Wake up! You’ve got to stay with me!” Her desperate cries echoed throughout the hollow cave.

Deep in his vision, Callum heard a voice coming from the outside… 

“Ray- Rayla? Is that you?” He wanted to say the words out loud but his mouth wasn’t able to do so. He was still panting, struggling to get his heart to beat at a regular pace right after the vision of his mother left him.

“I can’t lose you like this! You mean too much to me! Callum, I...“ 

Just when the young elf was about to confess her feelings for the ailing boy, the magical cube glowed brighter. And all of a sudden, a radiant light burst forth from the cube, blinding Rayla in the process. Her spirit was transported. And the next thing she knew, she was somewhere unknown. 

“Where am I?” She questioned herself as she examined her surroundings. Everything was misty around her. Nothing could be found except for miles and miles of inches thick of mist. She didn’t know where she was but at least she knew how she got here.

“The cube…” She looked at the cube in her hand. The glow wasn’t glaring anymore so she could observe it without getting her eyes hurt. It was still glowing faintly. But this time, it wasn’t just the sky magic that was glowing. The surface with moon magic on it was glowing as well.

“The moon and sky arcanum… they’re glowing. This cube must have provided a gateway for me to reach Callum.” The young elf gasped to herself. 

While she was entranced by the unexplainable glow of the two arcana, a faint but audible plea for help suddenly called for her, snapping her out of her daze.

“Ray- Rayla...” 

“Callum!” 

Rayla yelled back in the general direction where the voice came from. There was no time to spare. The magical cube had somehow provided a way for Rayla to rescue Callum from his dream. She needed to find him before it was too late.

“Callum! I’m coming for you!” The young elf picked up her speed and ran towards the unknown direction as fast as she could. 

Meanwhile, within the silent cloud of mist Callum was enshrouded in, a vision of Rayla suddenly appeared from the shadows and spoke to him.

“Callum, I thought you were better than this.”

“Rayla? Is that you?” Callum turned towards the direction of her voice but he didn’t see anyone. He was startled by the sudden appearance of her voice. But he was even more so by her unexpected question.

“Why did you use dark magic, Callum? I thought you were better than this.” The same voice continued ringing in his ear. But this time, it felt ghostly and eerily disturbing. 

“No, you don’t understand. I didn’t have a choice.” He turned his gaze towards the voice but still saw no one. 

“Yes, you did. You had a choice. All you had to do was to just sit in the cave and take care of Ezran, Bait and the dragon prince and wait for me to return.” A vision of Rayla stepped out of the mist, revealing to Callum the owner of the voice. 

Callum took a step back away from her, sensing something terribly off with the way this ‘Rayla’ behaved. “But you couldn’t do it yourself, Rayla. You were outnumbered. I had to do something to help you.”

“Help me? You didn't help me. I didn’t ask for your help. And now look at what has happened to you. You’re stuck here in this mess all because you decided to use dark magic.” Another copy of Rayla stepped out of the shadows. Her tone sounded contemptuous and disappointed this time. Callum took a step back from that copy of ‘Rayla’ as well and was shocked to see two individual copies of her. 

“Rayla, you know I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to help. I can’t bear the thought of knowing that you’re out there risking your life when I could at least do something to help you. Even though it was the wrong way.” Callum defended himself. 

“Oh, yes! It was very heroic of you to save me just now, Callum. And I really appreciate it. If it wasn’t because of your act of bravery for using dark magic to save me, I think I would have been dead by now.” Another copy of Rayla faded into the scene and Callum couldn’t tell if she was being grateful or sarcastic from the way she talked to him. 

“You know, dark magic is so powerful! I think this is the kind of magic you should excel in. Don’t you think?”

“I mean, think about the infinite powers your weak human self will be able to possess once you have mastered all the secrets of the use of dark magic.” Another copy of ‘Rayla’ appeared each time she said a sentence. And each time she appeared, her voice became more seductive.

“No! This isn’t the Rayla I know. Knock it off!” Callum yelled with frustration.

“But it’s me, Callum. It’s really me.” 

Another vision of Rayla came into the picture and stood before him. But this time, she was holding a cube with dark magic symbols carved all over its surface, the same cube he saw when Callum saw the ‘dark’ version of himself. Callum backed away from the cube.

“No! I’m not going to do it again, Rayla! I’m never going to use dark magic again!” 

“Why? Why not? It feels like the kind of magic you seem to be very good at.” The evil voices of ‘Rayla’ continued pounding in his head and the next thing he knew, he was surrounded by an army of Rayla, each holding the same dark magic cube in hand.

“Take it, Callum. Please? Do it for me, will you? It’s not too late for you to change your mind.” The ‘Rayla’ standing in front of him urged and his feelings were suddenly conflicted when she requested him to do it for her.

“No! No! I’m not! I’m not going to use dark magic ever again!” Callum held his head in his hands and continued to stay strong to resist the seductive temptations of ‘Rayla’ calling him to use dark magic again. His eyes were screwed shut and his forehead beaded with sweat as he tried to erase the visions from his head.

“But why not? I would be really proud to have a human friend who is an excellent dark magic mage.” The ‘Rayla’ standing in front of Callum pouted coyly as she leaned closer. 

Meanwhile, the real Rayla was still running towards him as quickly as she could. She wasn’t sure how long she had been running but it didn’t matter, she finally found him. 

“Take it, Callum. It is your destiny…” The voice continued lingering in his head, overwhelming him in his thoughts and Callum started to hyperventilate again. 

He recalled the breathing lesson his mother had taught him earlier and started to practice them. All he needed to do was to just breathe… and focus on the present… 

As his peace slowly returned to him, he began to hear a voice that was rather distinct from the rest of the ‘Raylas’. 

“Callum, come back! I’m sorry! It doesn’t matter what you did before! I just want you back!” A distant voice rang in his ear.

“Rayla?” 

“I can’t afford to lose you, Callum! You mean too much to me! Please! Come back!” A pair of gentle hands suddenly pulled his body into a tight hug and Callum immediately knew who they belonged to. 

“Rayla…” Callum opened his eyes to see the true Rayla standing in front of him. All the evil duplicates of her he saw earlier had all disappeared. There was only one Rayla before him now. His Rayla.

Her bright and purple eyes were soft and expressive. The dilation of her pupils showed just how much she had been worried sick because of him. She missed him and she wanted him back. No… needed it is.

“Callum, come back. I need you.” She held his face in her hand and gently caressed his cheek with a thumb.

“Rayla…” He pressed his body forward to lean into her hug and she willingly received him with open arms.

As the two stood there with arms entangled onto one another, a beam of light suddenly appeared and teleported the two of them. Callum immediately woke up from his slumber, catching onto desperate gulps of air as he sat up on the ground, breathing in all the fresh air his body desperately needed.

“Callum! You’re alright!” Rayla shrieked with joy as she leaned forward to hug him by the neck while Callum continued panting into her ear, relieved to have finally woken up from his seemingly never-ending nightmare and to find himself safe in Rayla's tender embrace. 

Callum noticed a stream of tears stained over her cheek and couldn't help but feel extremely guilty for using dark magic and causing Rayla to become worried sick because of him.

"I'm sorry, Rayla... I shouldn’t have… Mmmph?!" Callum was stopped when Rayla placed a finger over his pursed lips before he could even finish his sentence.

"It doesn't matter, Callum. I'm just glad to have you back." She smiled onto his neck, her hands gripping him firmly by his back and his head as she beckoned him to lean his head onto hers.

With both their eyes closed. They basked in the comfort of one another’s presence and for that moment, all that was felt was just gladness and relief. 

"Thank you, Rayla. You mean a lot to me."

"Same here, Callum. Same here."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. This is my first time writing a Rayllum one-shot so it'll be great if you could leave a comment and let me know what you think about this story. I hope you liked the story and once again, thank you for reading it. Stay tuned for more. :)


End file.
